Collateral Damage from The Intercept
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About This Podcast
Collateral Damage is an investigative podcast series examining the half-century-long war on drugs, its enduring ripple effects, and the devastating consequences of building a massive war machine aimed at the public itself. Hosted by Radley Balko, an investigative journalist who has been covering the drug war and the criminal justice system for more than 20 years, each episode takes an in-depth look at someone who was unjustly killed in the drug war.
The so-called “war on drugs” began as a metaphor to demonstrate the country’s fervent commitment to defeat drug addiction, but the “war” part quickly became all too literal, complete with helicopters, tanks, and suspension of basic civil liberties protections.
All wars have collateral damage: the civilians, the noncombatants, the innocent people whose deaths are tragic but deemed necessary for the greater cause. Collectively, we’ve decided that the lives of these people were expendable — unfortunate but acceptable sacrifices for the impossible goal of a drug-free America. They are collateral damage, and these are their stories.
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Recent Episodes
S1E8 Ep. 8 Legalized Takings: The Land Grab That Killed Donald Scott
In 1992, Donald Scott, the eccentric owner of a large Malibu estate, was killed in his home by an ad hoc team of raiding cops. The Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department led the raid, but a panoply…
S1E7 Ep. 7 Dirty Information: The NYPD’s Shock Tactics and the death of Alberta Spruill
In 2004, New York narcotics officers raided Alberta Spruill’s home, shattering her door and detonating a flash grenade. Spruill, a 57-year-old city worker, went into cardiac arrest and died two hours…
S1E6 Ep. 6 Airborne Imperialism: The Tragic Deaths of Veronica and Charity Bowers
Veronica and Charity Bowers, a young Christian missionary and her daughter, are killed when the Peruvian Air Force shoots down a small passenger plane in 2001. The plane had been mistaken for a drug…
S1E5 Ep. 5 What Fourth Amendment? How the Killing of Trevon Cole Almost Made Prime-Time TV
In June 2010, Las Vegas police conducted a no-knock raid on Trevon Cole’s apartment, where he lived with his nine-months-pregnant fiancée. Cole, who occasionally sold small amounts of marijuana,…
S1E4 Ep. 4 Criminalizing Care: The Remarkable Life and Cruel Death of Peter McWilliams
Peter McWilliams was an optimist, activist, poet, and advocate for personal freedom. His book “Ain’t Nobody’s Business If You Do: The Absurdity of Consensual Crimes in Our Free Country” resonated…
S1E3 Ep. 3 Blown Cover: The Preventable Murder of LeBron Gaither
When LeBron Gaither was 17, he got into an altercation with a staff member at his school that resulted in assault charges. As Gaither faced the possibility of a criminal record, a Kentucky State…
S1E2 Ep. 2 A Death in the Dark: The Story of Ryan Frederick and Detective Jarrod Shivers
In January 2008, Ryan Frederick, a 28-year-old who worked the night shift at a Coca-Cola plant in Chesapeake, Virginia, found himself at the center of a tragedy. Just days after his home had been…
S1E1 Ep. 1 Dirty Business: The Atlanta Narcotics Unit’s Deadly Raid on 92-Year-Old Kathryn Johnston
In 2006, a 92-year-old Atlanta woman was gunned down in her own home by police during a drug raid. The police initially claimed the woman was a marijuana dealer who fired a gun at them. The story…
S1 Ep. 0 Trump’s War on Drugs
From Afghanistan to Iraq, the United States has long used drone strikes to take out people it alleges are terrorists or insurgents. It’s a legacy that started under President George W. Bush and…
Introducing Collateral Damage
Collateral Damage is a new investigative podcast series examining the half-century-long war on drugs, its enduring ripple effects, and the devastating consequences of building a massive war machine…
Frequently Asked Questions
Collateral Damage from The Intercept has published 10 episodes since October 2025, covering topics in Documentary, History.
Collateral Damage from The Intercept is currently dormant with new episodes weekly. Average episode length is 50m.
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